We love to think of Israel as the proud and successful “Startup Nation,” a democratic country in which its citizens prosper, based upon their ingenuity, creativity and hard work.
But, unfortunately, not all Israelis share in that success.
According to a report issued last week by Israel’s National Insurance Institute, which focused on the country’s poverty statistics in 2023, there are two million people in Israel — fully 20% of its entire population — who live in poverty. This places Israel as second to last in the international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development poverty rating, slightly ahead of Costa Rica.
According to the report, there are 158,000 senior citizens in Israel and 872,000 children — 13% of all senior citizens and 28% of all children in the country — who live below the poverty line.
When viewed by population sectors, Israel’s Arab sector (with poverty rates of 38.4%) and ultra-Orthodox sector (with poverty rates of 33%) are the highest. And in geographical terms, the Jerusalem district and areas in the northern and southern parts of the country have the most serious poverty problems.
These are distressing figures that cannot be explained away as driven by the disruptions and displacements of Israel’s war efforts and heightened defense spending. While those activities account for some of the falloff in Israel’s overall economic growth, it appears that ongoing government assistance (which increased by more than 15% in 2023) helped keep Israel’s poverty statistics at close to the country’s 2022 numbers, which were already distressingly high.
Moreover, the report only covers the first three months of the war effort in the last quarter of 2023 — even though those events had an immediate effect on the country’s economic growth, reportedly reducing it from a 6.5% growth rate in 2022 to just 2% in 2023.
We know that the 2024 poverty numbers are going to be worse. All sectors of Israel’s economy and all segments of its population have been impacted by the ongoing war activities and the economic pain is spreading.
Reports focus on young, working-age Israelis whose financial stability has been significantly affected because they had to leave their jobs after being called up for reserve duty or because their workplace was closed due to the war. And the financial impact on those evacuated and temporarily resettled from the south and the north will also add to the disturbing poverty numbers.
Combating poverty in Israel is a serious challenge. That challenge is not made any easier with the realization that defense and security concerns need to take precedence over almost everything else, since the continued existence of Israel hangs in the balance. But that doesn’t mean that the “status quo” of Israeli poverty should be allowed to continue.
When confronted with two competing challenges, Israelis love to say “this, and.” What they mean is that we can do “this” which is necessary, “and” we can do that, which is also necessary. Israel’s necessary security and heart-wrenching poverty is a “this, and.” It is the responsibility of the government to address both.
